Shattered Worlds
by gesc97
Summary: When Clary is brought unexpectedly into the Demon Hunter world, her heart is torn between choosing what she wants and what she needs. Jace and Isabelle do their best to protect her, but maybe they're protecting the wrong person.


The cold night air was like a gentle kiss on Clary's skin as she walked through the town, slowly strolling down the streets figuring out where to spend her time. It had been a while since she had gone out on her own to do something that wasn't work related and damn did she need it. Simon, the poor soul, was surely drowning in all things art thanks to Clary and her unsatiable appetite for perfection in all of her paintings. Sure her clients appreciated the hard work, but that was as far as appreciation went.

Her attention was drawn to a half-flickering sign to a bar she hadn't noticed before, possibly due to the fact she was always keeping busy. _Pitstop. Kind of an unsavory name for a place,_ she thought to herself. Clary hesitated a moment before pushing the double doors open. To her surprise it was very lively inside. There was a decent crowd on what seemed to be a dance floor. Everyone was cheering to whoever was on stage, seemingly responsible for the catchy beats playing over the dozens of speakers around the place. After flashing her ID to the employee watching the door, she made her way to the bar and sat in the corner high chair, taking in the view of the place while out of sight to unwanted attention.

Behind the bar was a mirrored wall covered in bumper stickers from thousands of businesses, mostly tattoo parlors or unsavory type clubs. There was a decent selection of alcohol lined against the wall, displayed on a three tiered wooden shelving unit on top of the counter, underneath it two freezers and a little cabinet. There was an additional shelf hanging from the ceiling that wrapped around the bar a few feet above the bartenders heads. It contained a few bottles of each type of alcohol they carried.

Clary glanced at the bartender. She was absolutely beautiful, and it was apparent why her tip jars were overflowing. She had a bottle of Kahlua in her hands, flipped it in the air, then began making a row of shots for the eager customers who were in awe watching. She reached for the Midori with her right hand and did another bottle flip before continuing with the row of shots, pouring slower to layer the liquor. Her hands found a small spoon and she began to pour Baileys over the top of the shots, creating three layers. One of the customers handed her a stack of bills, winking as he tried to hold her gaze - of course, he utterly failed as she flipped her hair and trailed off to the next customer.

The group all took their shots together and slammed the glasses on the bar top upside down in poor unison. Clary locked eyes with one of the guys in the group. As his friends made their way to the dance floor, he catwalked towards Clary, sitting a couple stools away from her. _Good,_ she thought, _now just don't speak._ And, of course, he can't read minds.

"Name's Sebastian."

Clary tightened her lips in a half-assed smile, but it didn't deter her unwanted friend.

"With hair like that, I bet you're a fun one." He motioned for the bartender to come over. "I'll have a Shiner, and whatever she's having." The boy reached for his pocket, pulled out a wad of cash and handed the bartender some bills, clearly overpaying. He really was a charmer, wasn't he?

The black haired bartender happily grabbed a beer for him, popped the lid, then set his beer where he was originally sitting. He looked confused. "Um, I think you put it in the wrong place, Iz."

She swirled her hair in her finger and gave him a crooked smile. "Leave her alone, Seb, she's clearly not interested in being your cum guzzler." Her gaze met mine. "Right, hun?"

Clary smiled. "Right." Sebastian sulked over to grab his beer and disappeared into the crowd.

"Can I just have a vodka cranberry?"

Iz smiled and began her magic. "I haven't seen you here before. You new? I would remember a mane like that." She set Clary's drink down on a tiny napkin. "What's your name?"

"Clary. You can call me Clary." She sipped her drink. "I don't usually get out much. I run the art studio on 5th and that usually keeps me occupied." Her fingers twiddled with the napkin. "I just needed some time out not working. It gets a little overwhelming." She looked up and met the girl's gaze. "How about you?"

"Oh, hun, I've been here forever. Been bartending for, I don't know, 6 years now? Granted it wasn't legal for a few of those but if they don't ask questions," she shrugged her shoulders and trailed off. "Call me Izzy. And ignore Sebastian. He fucks anything that moves and is quite an ass." She took Clary's empty glass and replaced it with another full one.

The DJ blared over the speakers, catching the attention of everyone. "Alright everybody, I hope you're ready for this as it's about to get," there was a slight pause and then a loud siren hit with lights flickering on and off, then the beat dropped, " _hot as fuck_ in here." The crowd went wild on the dance floor. Everyone seemed to be touching, dancing like they were all on ecstacy. Hell, maybe they were.

Izzy leaned over the counter towards Clary. "I get off in about an hour when we close. You have any plans?" Clary looked at her phone. No messages. She looked back up at Izzy and shook her head, downed her second drink, and ordered a shot. Tonight was going to get fun.

An hour and a half had passed and the last trail of people were scuddling out of the bar. There were a handful of people still in the bar, all sitting around the bar in stools drinking and chatting. Izzy had already finished her closing duties and was sitting on the counter, her legs dangling off the edge. They were a pure shade of ivory that popped against her black stilettos. She was laughing with what seemed like close friends, Sebastian one of them. Izzy glanced at Clary and hopped off the bar. "Alright everyone, get the fuck out, go live your life or be drunk elsewhere." She strutted to Clary and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her outside. "So how much trouble are you looking to get into?" Her eyebrows wiggled slightly, hinting at the fun to come.

"So how is it that I can't even talk to her, but you get to be besties?" Sebastian, still holding a beer, walked alongside the two girls. He placed a hand over his heart, mocking them both.

"Oh fuck off, Seb." She gasped and a wicked smile spread across her face. "Seb. You need to grab Alec and Jace." His eyes widened and he gave a sly smirk. "Don't ask questions, just do it. You know where we'll be." He pulled out his phone and hopped into the back of a car that took off shortly after. "Don't worry, hun, you're going to love Alec. He's the bees knees."

Clary followed Izzy a few blocks to a church styled two story house. Even with just the moonlight it looked beautifully decorated. The double doors were silent when opening, which was incredibly surprising considering their size.

"Okay so I really think you should change your outfit. You totally need to be comfortable."

Clary opened her mouth to protest but was cut off.

"Do you like silk? What size sre you? You seem about a 6 or so, am I right? I have this totally cute camisole you would totally rock!" She hurried her steps, exciting herself more and more.

The inside of Izzy's room was elegantly decorated. In the center of the room was a large bed, possibly king sized, with a dark wooden frame and headboard. A leather ottoman sat at the foot of the bed, a blanket laying on top. In one of the corners was a bookshelf with curious looking books, strange markings adorning each of them. Izzy made her way to the opposite corner where a massive wardrobe stood. She rummaged through the clothes before tossing an outfit on the bed for Clary. They were a beautiful shade of blue with a black lace outlining the silk clothes.

"We have spare rooms or you can sleep in here tonight. You can stay the night, right?" Clary nodded. "Awesome!" Izzy made her way into the bathroom, flinging her work outfit outside the doorway snd walking out in an emerald green silk nightgown. Boy did she have a thing for silk. "You can leave your things in the room down the hall. You can't miss it, it's the last one on the left in front of the window. I'll be downstairs in the loft." She quickly gave her directions before hurrying away, clearly eager to set up for whatever she was planning.

Inside the spare room was a large bed in the center of the room, a nightstand on either side. There was a fairly large closet with plenty of room for Clary to set her things. She changed into the silk outfit before heading down the hall, trying to remember what Izzy had told her. After several minutes of wandering she accepted that she was lost.

Then the most beautiful noise mingled with her ears. She followed the sound to the other side of the hall and slowly creaked open the door, revealing a large room filled ceiling to floor with books. Off to the side of the room was a piano. A man sat in the stool, gracefully moving his hands along the keys to produce the astounding sound that tickled Clary's ears. The man looked up, still playing. He nodded her over.

Clary blushed but headed over anyway. He had short curly blonde locks and an olive complexion. His eyes were soft. He stopped playing.

"Now, I know that outfit anywhere. She stranded you here, didn't she?"

She giggled. "I maybe should have listened better when she gave me directions to downstairs. I didn't quite expect it to be such a maze."

The man stood up and led Clary to the door, and down the hall. "You get used to it. Half of these rooms are unused anyway so you'll at least find some interesting things being lost." He opened a pair of double doors revealing Izzy, Sebastian, and another boy whom Clary hadn't met yet. They were all laughing. Izzy sat on a couch while the unknown boy stood next to her and Sebastian sat on the floor across from them. The boy and Izzy were very similar in appearance, his ivory skin popping against his fluffed up hair. There seemed to be a little bit of glitter in it.

"I'm Jace, by the way." He walked over to Izzy and engulfed her in a bear hug. After he set her down, her eyes glistened as she saw Clary, and she quickly motioned for her to join them.

"Okay guys I have the table set up with cups. Pizza is on the way. Beer is in the back fridge. Please just don't flash me again. I still have nightmares."

After introducing herself to the boy who called himself Alec, they began their game of shot pong. Just as expected, the game became dangerous very quickly. Izzy dodged two flashings, both from Sebastian, and one beer bottle broke on the floor. It didn't exactly help that three of them had been drinking already before the start of this.

Clary made quick friends with Jace. They won every round of pong they played together as a team. One by one, everyone made their drunken exits. The classiest, of course, was Alec passing out halfway onto the couch, his chest and face planted on the floor with his legs draped over the seats. Before no time Clary and Jace sat alone in the corner, each with a glass in hand and a handle of vodka sitting in front of them, nearly emptied.

"There's absolutely no way, no fucking way, that happened!" Jace slurred his words, leaning heavily against the wall.

Clary took the last swig from the handle of vodka. "I can assure you, it happened. I have pictures." She giggled. "I don't know why I do, but I do."

Jace attempted to stand up a few times before finally standing on his own. "Say all you want, until I have proof that you were comissioned for a naked portrait of the mayor, I do not believe you."

She fell over laughing, the glass in her hand rolling to the wall a few feet away from her. "I surely need to go to bed." Her hands trailed up the wall behind her, assisting her to not fall on her face. She hugged the wall until she was out of the loft room. After a couple of minutes she was peaking around the corner at Jace. "Would you mind," she hiccuped, "helping me find the room with my stuff in it."

He laughed and nodded his head. They drunkenly made their way up thr stairs and went down a dark hall, the walls a dark maroon. Other than the paint, the walls were completely empty. Jace opened up the door to a room with light grey walls and books stacked on the floors, adorned with the same markings that were in Izzy's room.

Clary plopped herself onto the bed, thanked Jace in a hushed mutter, and passed out on top of the covers.


End file.
